The Trial Lawyers Association of BC (TLABC) is rejecting ICBC's claims that upcoming rate hikes are based on increasing costs, the organization announced September 5.
The TLABC said the statement comes in response to ICBC spokesperson Adam Grossman's recent comments that lawyer involvement and unreasonable demands were the reasons for the increases.
But ICBC fails to minimize claims costs right from the start, the TLABC said, which is what drives up costs. The association added that it also serves to delay justice for injured parties.
"People injured in car crashes go to lawyers when they believe they are not being treated fairly by ICBC," said TLABC president Dennis Hori. "Lawyers evaluate a client's case and make a reasonable offer to settle the matter with ICBC, without need of a trial.
"Cases [often] go to trial when ICBC makes offers that are unreasonably low."
The TLABC response comes on the heels of an August 30 statement by ICBC that bodily injury claims costs are behind a 4.9% increase to basic insurance rates effective November 1. ICBC said these costs were $1.9 billion in 2012 – more than $165 million higher than 2011 and $400 million more than five years ago.
Mark Blucher, ICBC's interim president and CEO, said, "We don't think it would be right to be asking our customers for even a single dollar more per year if we hadn't already done what we could to cut back on our own costs.
"With our staffing reductions and a heightened focus on cost efficiencies throughout the company, we have reduced our operating budget by $50 million."
The TLABC said efficiency needs to be increased from start to finish, which would serve the public better than ICBC's current approach to settling claims.
"ICBC's application for a rate increase is dubious given the surpluses it operates with and, by extension, the government relies upon," the TLABC said.
